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Do you know how many unproductive things I can do in that time? First, there’s my DVR box full of TV shows to be watched (or deleted). There’s also my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feed that can be compulsively refreshed every other minute. Lastly, I usually drag my feet long enough heading to the gym just to convince myself that my body needs a nap more than it needs the exercise; nap wins.

Committing fifteen minutes a day to sit down and write is not going to be easy. No, it’s not a New Year’s resolution but more of an ongoing conviction that won’t leave my Twitter feed. I have been inspired by this tweet from writer Jeff Goins and his blog about not making resolutions but rather “resolve” to reach my goals. Jeff, makes it fairly simple to develop a good habits as a writer, but these three “rules” are generally applicable to anyone who wants to excel in their craft:

Set aside at least fifteen minutes to practice, write, etc.

Show up to do it.

Give yourself grace, and don’t be so hard on yourself.

Three steps seems simple enough. It’s not some crazy crash diet, nor is it some insane workout regimen. Though I haven’t been posting every day, I have been writing for at least fifteen minutes either on my phone, journal, or computer, and I’ve never felt more productive this whole year. Yes, it has only been six days; I am aware.

So it’s been a three week dry spell for a new post on the ol’ so yeah dot net bloggy-poo. I’ll have to be honest, there were times when I just forgot about my blog, and yeah, I had stuff I could’ve written about, but I forgot about my blog altogether as an outlet. Another reason why I haven’t written in a bit is because I have been reading other “How To Blog,” blogs, and my mind was fried in a frenzy. Most blogs said “write short entries,” others said “longer entries are for the more intelligent, etc., etc., blah blah blah…”

Which pretty much just led me to tweet more. Nowadays, I’ve been wanting to lean toward shorter journal entries as I am programmed to keep character count under 140. Pretty lame. I know. THANKS A LOT, TWITTER :sarcasm: Now I’m reminded about the earlier versions of Facebook, and how status updates were limited to a certain amount of characters and even the words “John/Jane Doe is…” Remember those days? Now that’s pretty confined. So blitz blogging isn’t all because of Twitter.

I remember a conversation that I had with a Twitter skeptic that went something like this:

Skeptic: Twitter is stupid. No one knows cares about what you’re doing or what you’re thinking.

Me: Well would you have Twitter if all of your friends were on it?

Skeptic: Hmm…probably

Me: Do you ever update your status on Facebook?

Skeptic: Yeah.

Me: Isn’t that the same thing? People post what they’re doing and what they’re thinking almost all the time. I wish I could respond with “No one cares,” but in reality some people care. So Twitter isn’t as stupid, it’s just more challenging to build a network. Also, it’s not all about networking…

Overall, I enjoy writing, and I hope you love reading. My future blog entries will continue to range from elaborate to straightforward.

I still tweet. Keeping things under 140 characters has it’s advantages and disadvantages. The challenge is adjusting and not being too ignorant to a changing society, while holding on to key constants.